Are Progressive Web Applications the future? Will they bury native apps for good?

It is the fashionable terminology. PWA's or what is the same, the Progressive Web Applications or _Progressive Web Apps_ in its acronym in English. It is the latest addition to Windows 10 although they are not exclusive to the Redmond operating system. They are the counterpoint of native applications and on paper, everything is an advantage.

Applications that are nothing more than the materialization, the last step, of the battle between native applications and web applications These have always existed and on many occasions they have been a more than valid alternative to the former, so why not go one step further in their use?

What are Progressive Web Applications

We have already advanced something. PWA's (Progressive Web Apps) have real advantages over native ones PWA's are an evolution of web applications such as those offered by HTML5 and _services workers_ (a technology that allows us to run services in the background in browsers), to offer a user experience very similar to what we can find in a native application installed on our mobile phone.

Progressive applications are based on open web standards and are written primarily, like a conventional web application, in HTML, CSS and JavaScript . The PWA's are based on two pillars:

Service Workers The first step is the use of background services. When opening the PWA, the server loads and installs the service worker so that from there it starts when the application starts and is informed of each network request in the corresponding domain.In addition, the service worker and its cache are saved in the browser used (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera) so that a PWA could be used even without connection, since it loads the content from the cache.

Application Shell Architecture The app shell is the first thing to load and display and is the basis of the interface. On the other hand there is the content that is displayed, which is loaded from the Internet. In addition, the Shell app is saved in the service worker cache when the app is opened so that load time is saved. In summary we could say that the main characteristic is that it differentiates between functionality and content to load them separately.

This is how we see a typology that offers a good number of advantages, but also some drawbacks compared to traditional native applications.

Advantages and some disadvantages

The first and most remarkable is that do not require installation In this way we win by not requiring space inside our mobile phone or computer, something that is sometimes limited. The negative part is that they require a constant internet connection and although that is not so difficult today, there are times when we do not have access to it.

Another advantage is that by not depending on the phone's _hardware_ in the same way as a native app, they allow faster loading speeds(if we have a good network connection, of course). There is even the option, although that would make it almost a native app, to be able to download it and use it _off line_.

In addition, can send push notifications directly to the _smartphone_ and in many cases they have a full screen mode, so that the browser disappears from view during the time we are executing them.

Another advantage they offer is that before going through the checkout and having to buy it, we can try it before downloading it. A saving therefore for our pocket if in the end it does not convince us.

Progressive Web Applications also can allow us to run it on any operating system (they simply run by opening the browser and regardless the system), a great advantage over native apps, in which each one requires a specific app for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac… or any other system.

A Progressive Web Application offers a range of options and features that fit the framework of the operating system on which it runs.

They offer greater security against _malware_, something we've seen in some Android apps, for example. The reason is that they cannot access specific parts of the system that are only accessible from the inside.

On the other hand, using PWA's brings the advantage of almost always accessing the most up-to-date version of the application, which makes it unlike native apps. PWAs are easier to update than native ones, which have to be updated by the user when the developer has an _update_ available, which requires more work on their part.

The development and maintenance of a PWA requires less programming, development and maintenance work per day than a native app because it is the same time a web page and a platform-independent application.

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This in turn translates into lower development and management costs compared to native apps The reason is that revenues are not They have to be shared neither with Google nor with Apple for placing them in their respective app stores.Another thing is that these can be purchased outside the current application store... and everything that the process entails (payment security, purchase process...) but that has not yet been reached. "

We could summarize the advantages in five points:

• Offer the best performance on mobile with faster load times
• Interface almost similar to that offered by a native app
• The ability to work offline
• Be able to send notifications to users
• Lower consumption of resources
• Easier to be updated

Are Progressive Web Apps Better?

We therefore find ourselves with two conflicting positions. Native Applications vs. Progressive Web Applications In the case of Microsoft it seems that the former, represented by Universal Applications (UWP), which at another time were the bet from Microsoft, their days are numbered in favor of the latter.

Part of the success also lies in the user Would you prefer to use a web application instead of an application installed on the phone? mobile or computer? For now, we don't know if the future will be for web applications or not, but they have an undeniable potential that is exploited more and more effectively.

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